Box Set (Samhain)

Infobox Album |
Name = Samhain Box Set
Type = Box set
Artist = Samhain


Released = 5 September 2000
Recorded = 1983-1990
Genre = Horrorpunk, post-punk
Length =
Label = Evilive Records/E-Magine Music
Producer = Glenn Danzig
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|2|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fnfexqrkldte link]
Last album = "Final Descent"
(1990)
This album = "Samhain Box Set"
(2000)
Next album = "Samhain Live '85-'86"
(2001)

The Samhain Box Set was released in 2000, more than 13 years after Samhain effectively ceased recording and performing. The set's five CDs and one VHS tape compile nearly all of the band's original catalogue, newly remastered for the original mastertapes, and a wealth of previously unreleased material, the latter of which includes a live CD and a VHS video cassette of live footage.

Of Samhain's previous official releases, only the original mix of the Unholy Passion EP was not included in the Box Set; conjecture is that the original master tapes had been lost over the years, or were erased when Danzig re-recorded the guitar and some vocal tracks to those songs in June 1987.

pecial Packaging

The Box Set initially retailed at around $60.00 USD, and is now out of print. If pre-ordered online through distributor E-Magine Music's website, the first pressing of the Box Set was shipped two weeks prior to the street date, and was packaged with a bonus metal pin of the "scarecrow beast" character that appeared on Samhain T-shirts in the 1980s (similar to the one on the cover of the November-Coming-Fire album). In all pressings, each of the five CDs came in its own "mini-LP" sleeve within the box, but when they were re-released individually the following year, these sleeves were replaced with normal CD jewel-cases.

Also included in the Box Set was a comic book by Mr. Monster creator Michael T. Gilbert and a 32-page booklet of photographs and the lyrics to Discs One and Three. The outer box cover was painted by the late Martin Emond, who had done artwork for several other products from singer Glenn Danzig's post-Samhain band, Danzig.

Track listing

"Initium" (Disc One)

#"Initium" / "Samhain"
#"Black Dream"
#"All Murder, All Guts, All Fun"
#"Macabre"
#"He-Who-Can-Not-Be-Named"
#"Horror Biz"
#"The Shift"
#"The Howl"
#"Archangel"

"Unholy Passion" (Disc Two)

#"Unholy Passion"
#"All Hell"
#"Moribund"
#"The Hungry End"
#"Misery Tomb"
#"I Am Misery"

"" (Disc Three)

#"Diabolos '88"
#"In My Grip"
#"Mother of Mercy"
#"Birthright"
#"To Walk the Night"
#"Let the Day Begin"
#"Halloween II"
#"November's Fire"
#"Kiss of Steel"
#"Unbridled"
#"Human Pony Girl"

"Final Descent" (Disc Four)

#"Night Chill"
#"Descent"
#"Death...In Its Arms"
#"Lords of the Left Hand"
#"The Birthing"
#"Twist of Cain" (previously unreleased version)
#"Possession" (previously unreleased version)
#"Trouble" (previously unreleased version)
#"Lords of the Left Hand (Second Version)" (previously unreleased version; see Notes section below)

"Samhain Live '85-'86" (Disc Five; previously unreleased)

* Tracks 1-10: Live 19 February 1985 at Danceteria, New York, NY.
* Tracks 11-18: Live 13 April 1986 at the Cabaret, Metro Chicago, IL

#"All Hell"
#"Samhain"
#"Shift"
#"The Howl"
#"Unholy Passion"
#"All Murder, All Guts, All Fun"
#"I Am Misery"
#"The Hungry End"
#"Horror Biz"
#"He-Who-Can-Not-Be-Named"
#"Black Dream"
#"Death Comes Ripping"
#"Mother of Mercy"
#"To Walk the Night"
#"Halloween II"
#"In My Grip"
#"London Dungeon"
#"Archangel"

"Live VHS" (previously unreleased)

* Tracks 1-8 recorded 13 April 1985 at Typographer's Hall, Baltimore, MD.
* Tracks 9-13 recorded 27 April 1986 at The Ritz, New York, NY.
* Tracks 14-16 recorded 14 July 1986 at The Ritz, New York, NY.

#"All Murder, All Guts, All Fun"
#"The Shift"
#"Unholy Passion"
#"Black Dream"
#"The Hungry End"
#"I Am Misery"
#"Horror Biz"
#"Moribund"
#"All Hell"
#"London Dungeon"
#"Archangel"
#"Mother of Mercy"
#"To Walk the Night"
#"Samhain"
#"Moribund"
#"Black Dream"

Notes

* Disc Two marks the first time the remixed "Unholy Passion" EP was presented as a single CD on its own, though the contents had been added to the first CD pressing of Initium in 1987, and again to the original Final Descent in 1990. The original mix the of EP has never been released on CD, apart from unofficial/illegal bootlegs.
* Eerie Von has confirmed that "Death...In Its Arms" was recorded during the sessions for Danzig's second album, , and features the full original Danzig lineup: Glenn Danzig, Eerie Von, John Christ, and Chuck Biscuits.
* The title of "Death...In Its Arms" is misspelled on all releases (with an incorrect apostrophe in "it's").
* "Lords of the Left Hand (2nd Version)" was actually recorded in September 1986, while the "original version" was not recorded until September 1987, and was not mixed in its final form until 1990.
* Tracks 4 and 5 of "Samhain III: November-Coming-Fire" are incorrectly reversed on the CD sleeve. The correct order is listed above.
* Tracks 7 and 9 of "Final Descent" are incorrectly reversed on the CD sleeve. The correct order is listed above.